#simultaneously “more than average” and “less than I'd like”

[transmutationisms]

self harm is hot, useful, and honestly not any worse than giving yourself a stick and poke imo. i think people's motivations for it are often more complicated but there is all this built into the discussion around self harm about how dangerous it is and if we take your average non-suicidal self-harmer, they are almost certainly doing things less dangerous than getting into a car we can't have a real conversation about bodily autonomy on a large scale until we all admit that people do dangerous things all the time for all sorts of reasons, and just because one is more societally associated with being a freak doesn't make it some concretely worse form of harm

basically agree but i think the argument here would be that 'accepted' dangerous activities have benefits to them (eg, you get in a car for the purpose of getting somewhere) whereas things deemed 'self harm' have no purpose beyond causing yourself pain or injury. i'd obviously argue back with this that in fact the self harm activities DO serve a purpose or else we wouldnt do them lmao, whether it's self-soothing or emotional regulation or sexual fulfillment or whatever. so really what it comes down to i think, is what sorts of trade offs a person considers rational or normal. like, getting in a car is a good example because statistically it is quite dangerous but if you accede to the idea that going to your little job and making your little profits every day is socially useful and productive, then ofc the car trip appears rational and normal and social in a way that cutting or bruising yourself does not.

i will find this later also but: i read a fun article a while back about how cutting wasn't really a described phenomenon until like the early 20th century, so (as with many psych labels and descriptions) you can attach this behaviour to other things people did prior that were physically harmful to themselves, but really it's a bit anachronistic because there was a specific explanatory framework attached to cutting and self harm when it entered the literature. patients don't always accept such framework uncritically but there's a new type of feedback loop there, where people are now engaging with a specific professional / credentialled explanation of this behaviour and the desires that drive it, and are assimilating those explanations into their own self-conception and sense of identity, and often simultaneously challenging or defying them. meanwhile the public conceptions of this type of self harm from people who don't do it are kind of another can of worms, but the point remains that the conception of this behaviour we're familiar with now is relatively historically recent. which is just a point worth keeping in mind here imo. people had different ways of thinking about hurting themselves prior to these specific paychiatric discourses, and many still do, and they will in the future as well.

[turtlesandfrogs]

So, earlier this week, our water was off for about two and a half days, and we decided that during that time it would make sense to buy prepared meals, since water was limited and cooking from scratch and cleaning up use a lot of water.

To give some context, this is not a thing I have done- I grew up eating meals made from scratch*, and just kept doing it because people generally do what they know. So living off of prepared foods for two days was an entirely new experience for me.

The thing we noticed, and I'm still not over, is how the portions are so *small* and not very filling, and we ended up eating way more often. I was incredulous that this was what passed for a meal, so I looked at the calories, and then went to a calorie calculator because I don't count calories so I didn't know what would be reasonable. The meals usually had around 300 to 400 calories, but for a person of my height, age, etc, the calculator said I should eat around 1600 cal, if I got little to no exercise. And I'm below average height for a woman!

If people are expected to eat three meals a day, the meals added up to around 900 to 1200 calories a day- which is way less than the 1600 I'd need if I weren't exercising! This is just absurd! What about people who are on their feet all day? What about people who are taller than me? (Not a high bar) What about people who are growing?

It just, it explains so much about how much Americans struggle with food & health if this is what the expectation is of a meal. Of course people are getting their calories through snacks and coffee drinks! The meals simultaneously do not have enough calories, so do not satiate, and don't have enough vegetables!

It also explains why eating out is such a thing- you at least are getting decent portion sizes at restaurants! Way better calorie to dollar ratio!

And just like I kept eating the way my family ate (with some adjustments, lol**) as a kid, I wonder how many people eat so much prepared food because that's what they grew up eating and they didn't get how to make your own food modeled.

And I wonder how many people don't approach learning to cook because people who make recipes are usually showing you the meals they are proud of, not their day-to-day, basic survival meals?

Which is a really long way to say I'll now occasionally be posting recipes of my day-to-day meals.

* literally, I grew up in one of those families that had a grain mill, a garden, and raised our own animals. Everything was from scratch, from the waffles at breakfast to the spaghetti with dandelion greens for dinner. Every day. Boxed cereal was an occasional splurge.

**I still make almost everything from scratch, but I went from butchering animals to being a vegan. Which makes the misinformation from both sides especially grating, let me tell you.

#vegan

[eclaire-went-bam]

one thing that i've found interesting about narc abuse truthers, is that they very often claim a narcissist won't ever have the capability or self-awareness to search within themselves and understand something's wrong, because they're so full of themselves or they don't want to do the work

while simultaneously demonising the disorder and making it even harder for people to be comfortable with that sort of introspection?

i think in general, our society is really weird about vanity and confidence. you must be confident and have some ego, but if you give yourself too much a pat on the back, even if you're not being toxic about it, it's seen as strange, almost. maybe too much. especially if you don't frame it in some humble way, like "i think i did this well" or "i tried to look good"

most characters portrayed as disagreeable in media have some sort of ego and aren't humble about it, a lot of protagonists are either humble about it or have lower ego, or use it in charismatic quips.

so when someone hears "narcissistic" in "narcissistic personality disorder," there's automatically that "oh, the vanity" type of disgust— even without hearing about "narc abuse" and the like

that being said, who would want to be associated with that on it's own? that pool shrinks even more when most sites online have a very ableist general opinion on npd, or have multitudes of posts about "narc abuse"

if someone turned around and called a self-proclaimed empath a narcissist, would they like it? no? if someone turned around and called your average joe who isn't chronically online a narcissist, would they like it? no? what makes you think someone with undiagnosed npd would like it, especially when that actively makes them look like a worse person?

maybe if you changed the way you spoke about npd and stopped clogging google with narc abuse falsing, more people with npd would be less averse to looking into the possibility they may have it

even in their own ableist worldview, they are part of the problem they're talking about

oh also generally speaking i do think it should be normalised for egotypicals to not need to be modest about something they're super proud of. i feel like that's a good first step that'll just help everybody anyways.

cut for my personal experience. not that i feel uncomfortable sharing it, i don't, i just feel like i've already said what i wanted to say. some people may find this relatable though idk

npd was really difficult for me to consider because of this. i'd done so many hours of research and even then it took me a long time to be able to say this, not to mention even talking about it openly. although i was exposed to pro "scary" mental health conditions stuff before the ableist stuff online (by some miracle), i still did see the ableist stuff. although i knew it was all wrong, i couldn't help but shake the unconscious conclusion that "if i'm not this, then i'm better." i knew what others thought of npd, so my imaginary way of getting on people's good sides was to simply not have it. thats how i'd gain the admiration of others, even if realistically they'd never know this

even after i came to the conclusion "oh jeez i probably have this" — after multiple years of it impeding every aspect of my life in both positive and horribly negative ways — i couldn't bare the thought that i'd be marked until the day i die. i'll have this, until my brain becomes food for the earth. i have this bug, that no matter what, i can't scrape away. and what made it worse (better?), is that the bug was simultaneously saying "oh hell yeah now i'm more interesting and cooler than anyone else in this room !!"

i'm going to be a bad person forever, when i wanted to be admired by everyone. it doesn't matter what sort of way i act, because this is in my closet, i'm just a bad person (Rhetorical)

and now that i have accepted i might have this, i can't even get help for it after reading all the horror stories !!! so like...what now ? what do the narc abuse truthers reasonably expect me to do .

#npd #narcissistic personality disorder #narcissistic abuse #is not real ^^

[genderqueerdykes]

hi :) thought i'd ask u because ur bigender -- im a little confused on that label. does it mean having ONLY EXACTLY 2 genders, or 2+ genders?? i feel like i personally have an unknowable amount of genders cause i just don't know myself very well but i know there r at least 2 in there. i had taken to calling myself multigender but ive noticed that people tend to use 'multigender' as more of an umbrella term for bi- and trigender people, rather than as its own individual label, which makes me feel less comfortable using it for myself. but i also don't feel comfy calling myself bigender if it means only 2 genders. ig im just confused as to what qualifies as bigenderism? thanks so much for everything u do here, btw -- uve helped me a lot. ur helping a LOT of people. thanks mwah

aww thankz for asking!!!!! i love answering questions about being bigender

multigender also works, i actually call myself multi and polygender as well as bigender, all of them work- bigender for me is just a descriptor that i experience 2+ genders simultaneously! those genders change, but i always experience & present at least two genders at once. i never have less than 2, which is why bigender feels comfortable, it's the average number. but like i said i identify with the others as well

and bigender can be an umbrella term! some people identify statically as male and female for example and it never changes, other people may be a demigirl and agender one day and a guy and nb butch lesbian the next, it's kinda like how bisexual means you experience 2 or more sexualities at once. we identify with that label as well as polysexual and abrosexual :-)

hope any of that helped u! i'm honestly really glad to hear i've helped that made me tear up a little.... u are rad, i hope u have a gratifying journey in figuring out what terms fit u best! take care and stay cool ;~; <3

#asks #answers #bigender #multigender #polygender

[jsindij]

i no longer own pink.

yesterday i watched the barbie movie with my friend and, naturally, we wanted to dress up for the occasion.

as i sifted through my closet, i was hit with the realization that i simply don't own pink clothes anymore.

as a young girl, pink was my favorite color.

shirts, jackets, dresses, accessories - you name it. along with my love for disney, princesses, hello kitty, and of course: barbies.

i was such a doll girl.

i was blessed to have a barbie dream house and remote-controlled pink corvette in my collection of toys gifted over several christmases and birthdays.

i remember making little stop-motion videos of my dolls playing house or school and diy-ing more items for them to enjoy.

i never drew on them with marker or cut their hair in obscure ways.

i took care of them,

and i'd like to think they took care of me too.

when we were really young, my sister and i were very close

- back when being young meant your sibling was your best friend and spending time with them was free of conflict and true misunderstanding.

once we reached the age where our interests began to diverge and early indicators of the versions of ourselves we would eventually grow into finally emerged, i suddenly felt alone.

i remember at this initial shift, i had coped through my dolls

- too young to articulate how my first encounter with the realities of growing up made me feel.

but now that i'm older,

i can finally give it an earnest shot.

growing up is thinking your sister hated you because she didn't want to play dolls with you anymore, then realizing it was just because she was discovering other things in the world to be experienced.

it is thinking your sister didn't love you anymore because she stopped saying it and no longer let you hug her, then realizing it was just because there are other ways to express you love someone.

growing up is realizing you actually had a beautiful childhood

-that the things that forced you to mature too soon had obstructed vour memory of what it felt to be a kid.

because you grew up with an older sister and both your parents

and even had two grandparents in the house.

you celebrated birthdays and christmases and had gatherings with extended family where you got to spend time with multiple generations of family members.

growing up is realizing that on average, parents have eighteen years with their child.

that's 18 birthdays, summers, and holidays together before you leave and truly embark into the real world.

and that is a shorter amount of time than we realized while we were living through it.

growing up is realizing that that was why it was difficult for your mother to release you from her embrace when you left for college.

growing up is acknowledging that you could've expressed more gratitude, could've complained less or acted less annoyed when your mother wanted to take photos of and with you.

growing up is realizing the depth of the quote from the film:

"we mothers stand still so our daughters can look back and see how far they've come."

growing up is realizing how similar you are to your mom and finding more and more parallels between you and her as you get older.

growing up is looking through the photo albums on your mom's facebook page because she uploaded most of your childhood memories there and realizing you inherited your love for documentation from her.

it is realizing you should take more photos with your family while you still can (and having a genuine desire to do so) because you understand now how sacred time is and how precious they are to you.

to grow up is to realize the concept of growing up.

as we get older, time feels as though it passes faster because we become increasingly conscious of its value and its loss.

it is to grieve the past versions of ourselves while simultaneously stepping into our next one.

growing up is watching the barbie movie and its message piercing like a needle through the fabric of your adulthood, its thread coated with bittersweet nostalgia.

but it does not damage you with its puncture.

it gently pokes around,

as if tickling your inner child to wake it,

reminding you of how it felt to grow up as a young girl playing with her barbie dolls.

it is crying at the movie theater with absolutely no shame.

it is smiling at the young girl and her mother in the row in front of you when you walked in the theater and seeing the lone elderly woman in the row behind you who also sat through the credits, for you all came to watch the same film.

it is walking out in your skirt and the pink hair bow your friend let you borrow to take selfies with the movie poster before grabbing food for the post-movie debrief.

it is getting a message from a family member who happened to be at that same mall, and her coming by with your niece whom you haven't seen in years to say hello.

it is realizing she is ten now.

it is remembering when she was born.

remembering playing with her as she grew into a toddler.

it is remembering that you gave her and her sister your dolls once you 'grew out of them' at a certain age.

it is then remembering that you left your three-story barbie dream house in the trash room when you moved out of the apartment you grew up in because it was too big to conveniently give to them, and had a lot of missing or broken parts by then.

it is having a memory of the house with its layer of collected dust and not remembering what happened to the pink, remote-controlled corvette.

it is wishing you had kept at least one doll.

it is realizing the same thing applied to your childhood clothes: given to younger family members, donated, or (for the really worn-down pieces) simply thrown out.

growing up is realizing why you don't own pink anymore.

and it is wanting to go and change that.

-C.C.

(Credit: @cam.casi on TikTok)

#barbie

[lafortis]

why don't you stream on twitch anymore?

I'm really racist (against twitch)

Nah fr, I ended up not being very good with the expectations set by being a "streamer" (averaging like twenty viewers and almost all of them were essentially friends and there was almost no like parasocial weirdness but still). Partially I don't do well with any kind of commitment, and that meant it started feeling more like work and less like a hobby whenever I'd schedule streams, which was like all the time. And then partially, I started working again, and because I did put a reasonable amount of time and effort into streaming, I didn't really wanna scale that back substantially and just do low effort one or two hour type stuff, but I also straight up no longer have all the excess time and energy I did to stream at the rates I did. And then finally, I just kinda stream on discord if there's something I wanna show the homies these days, which feels more normal and natural and less like Being A Content Creator, which is a state to be reviled and avoided.

See my ultimate problem with streaming on Twitch is that it was never going to truly "go anywhere" for me; I was absolutely unwilling to go to the lengths you need to go to to make a living off of such things. I think I had one encounter in particular that just completely shattered the illusion for me, where I realized that a person who had been fairly active and vocal in my chat was almost certainly like <13, and that weirded me the fuck out, but I simultaneously had the realization that that's a perfect audience member for your average streamer: vocal, active, and not that critical lol. I mean I knew I would never do the "hey, twitchuser69, thanks for the follow/subscription/bits" or whatever, or have popup notifs on stream, altho I did generally always thank people who did such things, but it never occurred to me why such things work so well, and that's that, y'know, especially younger people like seeing their actions influence the content they're consuming. It makes their brain tingle. And, like, that's fine I suppose, but I just didn't really want to adopt a business model reliant essentially on creating self-recognition through the other for a bunch of children and teens, cus that feels fucking weird.

Genuinely it got to the point where like, every new chatter was something to be feared rather than welcomed, because they might fuck up the vibe, and that's when I realized I was essentially just using it as a way to chill with the "viewers" (i.e. friends) that I already had, and I don't really need to twitch stream for that. I guess I'm just not really cut out for being a content creator tbh.

[justmybookthots]

Suddenly a Murder

Have I been eagerly eyeing this book a month before its release date in September? Yes. 

Have I only just read it now?

… Yes.

To be fair, I've had / I have books that have been on my TBR for YEARS. Three months of limbo in retrospect is nothing. So why do I feel chagrined? I don't know. Nonetheless, I'm glad I finished it because I'm craving more diversity in my reads and I haven't read a lot of thrillers this year… or at least it feels like it? I just went to count and I've read roughly 12 thriller books this year.

However, if you're considering that I've read over 50 books in total this year, 12 is a very small fraction of it. I used to read thrillers a LOT more—they're my go-to genre. I've read mind-boggling ones, good ones, average ones, bad ones… and Suddenly a Murder is definitely under "good-to-average". 

Its biggest draw for me is its premise. I love a murder mystery that takes place in an isolated setting (The Guest List is my FAVE example), and when Kassidy—the heroine's BFF—made the rest of the cast surrender their phones to be sent to the mainland, I was rubbing my hands and smacking my lips. Along with a thrown backstory about the manor they were living in, it made for a very juicy premise.

The question is, did it deliver?

Well. Spoilers ahead. 

Things I liked:

Almost everyone was toxic as fuck. I know, I know, why would I like that? But I just love when there's so much drama and toxicity and people are so messy… It was making me smack my lips, though admittedly, I was also simultaneously sickened by all the shit Blaine was doing. That said, I did feel relieved he was the murder victim because him being alive was grossing me out. To Kassidy and Chloe: please have some more self-respect. 😭 But then again, what's the fun if they have any?

The last revelation about the secret Izzy was hiding was pretty satisfying! It's the highlight of the book. Without this, the ending would have felt REALLY milquetoast (though a friend did mention she liked what Kassidy did in the end, which… fair point).

I thought I'd dislike Izzy—I mean, most main characters of thrillers aren't meant to be likeable. I assumed she was one of those, but I actually ended up liking her in the end. Also her friendship with Kassidy was genuine—they weren't frenemies, as is commonly depicted in many thrillers between the "rich girl" and "poor girl" archetypes. 

I liked Kassidy, too. Two female characters I liked? Wow! Unexpected. (To be clear: I DO NOT hate women. I just have a habit of not liking / being neutral about characters in thriller books because cast likeability in this genre is not why I read it.)

I really liked the fashion that kept being mentioned, even if it did feel rather superfluous at times (but I guess that was the point).

This can be a like and a dislike at the same time. But Marlowe, who turned out to be as trustworthy and decent as he appeared to be? That's… hmmm. I guess it was nice (?) to see that. I kept side-eyeing him the whole time because I don't trust ANYONE in thrillers, especially love interests, and now I feel a bit tired expending all that wasted energy. 😅

Things I disliked:

There's a whole backstory going on about Marla Nevercross and Cara Ashwood, who'd acted in a film at this very manor. Other than the ending, I wish that the film's storyline drew a more distinct parallel to the current events of the story. Sure, there's the cheating, the adult sleeping with the minor/much younger person… but there's not a distinct line that connects the roles of the main cast to the film. Or maybe there is, and my brain is farting at the moment. It's just that after a while, I forgot about the film until the end. 

The romance. Did we need it? I frankly could have done without it, but I guess it could be kind of cute for some readers? At the very least, I just wish it was more subtle and less screen time was devoted to it.

Fergus… You're just gonna take Ellison's ass back after he humiliated you like that? Jeez.

I felt that Pilar de León embodied the very tired (to me) trope of a quirky/slightly eccentric/very intelligent detective taking charge and solving the mystery. Maybe I just love Poirot too much and I felt she was a very weak caricature / inspired copy of him. She also reminded me a little bit of Daniel Craig's detective in Knives Out. Don't get me wrong, the quirks are all different for these detectives, but what's common is that they're all a little eccentric/mavericks and smarter than the rest of the cast. This is less a valid complaint and more me being annoying because a weird part of my brain is tired of this trope.

I… wanted a bigger twist. The person who turned out to be the killer was expected because they were the least likely suspect, but their motive was also very predictable once you realise who it was. I guess I just wanted to be more mind-fucked. :) Usually when I'm reading a very good mystery and I stumble upon the reveal, I can feel my body going on pins and needles but I didn't feel this at all. (Or maybe I just need to see a doctor.)

All in all, it's NOT a bad thriller. I had a good time. But it's not among the best thrillers I've read this year, that's for sure. I think that list would definitely include The Only One Left by Riley Sager, The Maid's Diary by Loreth Anne White and The Housemaid by Freida McFadden.

Anyway, my friend did just recommend me some other YA thrillers so I may check those out in the near future. Of course, 'near future' could range from the next three months to the next three years to never.

Who knows? Not me, I'll tell you that.

- 20 Nov 2023

#book blog #book review #suddenly a murder #thriller books #mystery #mystery books

[thefinalwitness]

3, 8, and 15 for miss l’aiha please 😌💕

thank u!!!!! 🥺🥺💞💞💞💞💞

3. What does their voice sound like, in a couple of words?

(How about a LOT of words sorry that's how we roll here.) L'aiha has always been well spoken, even when she's incredibly emotional or otherwise hindered. L'khilo thinks it's a clue as to the environment she might've grown up in prior to her amnesia—a scholarly, educated place. He's right, too!

Generally L'aiha is very soft-spoken, polite, and with a hint of 'elegance' or 'properness' in her tone. Obviously FFXIV is afflicted with the same disease as every fantasy media ever, where smart characters are always Fantasy British Accented, but ignoring that for a minute, I think her accent would still be notably miqo'te, especially on H sounds where that 'hiss' comes through. She was raised around very educated miqo'te, so they definitely sound DIFFERENT to your average Seeker or Keeper, but they simultaneously sound Less Different than, say, an educated hyur or elezen would.

I'm not great at putting 'mental voice' into a given accent, but based on L'aiha's upbringing, i'd say she possesses something most like a Spanish accent? (I can't tell EXACTLY what Gyr Abania's coded culture is, but it SEEMS in that ball park) Her maternal family are very recent immigrants from Ala Mhigo, and her paternal family, while generations-old Sharlayans now, still has a strong sense of culture and language predating their own migration.

So uh... Really Smart Spanish Woman Voice, I Guess. Even though her current voiceclaim isn't that, because I was trying to match the Fantasy British Accent. >_> Still would like to change that! But you can imagine how hard it is to find 'smart fantasy voice that ISN'T BRITISH FUCK' lmao.

8. What is their coping mechanism?

ISOLATION. ISOLATION. ISOLATION.

L'aiha has an admittedly bad habit of running away when things get REALLY hard. Tragedy, fights with friends, overwhelming news... Her impulse is to run and hide, and it's one she's still struggling with—her very hair color is evidence of a current episode, where she's trying to run back to a version of herself she doesn't even KNOW beyond second-hand accounts.

It's strange, actually, how often 'isolation' means she'll go somewhere NEW, UNKNOWN. she rarely runs back to what she knows, instead setting out on someplace she's never seen or barely knows anything about. (In truth, it's the bizarre clash of 'running away' and 'exploration'. She's always been a traveller. More so than I'm about to explain to a friend I don't want to overly spoil on FFXIV things. ;D)

15. Has their personality changed at all since they were a child? Why?

DEFINITELY. Ages 0-28, L'aiha was a hopeful and proactive sort. She was to some degree under the effects of the 'gifted child' phenomenon; she'd always been well designed for the difficult schooling and education of Sharlayan, rising to the occasion time and again, leaving little in the way of failures or disappointments in her wake. Life bordered on 'too easy' for her, and she ached for more.

After she left Sharlayan, she definitely FOUND more. She found a crisis on an apocalyptic scale; a problem she could not solve with wit or resolve. A problem that killed her and some of her dearest friends.

And though she doesn't remember any of it after she wakens in the Gyr Abanian wilderness, the failure fundamentally changed her. She became cautious, sometimes overly so, and though she still possesses a LOT of ambition and compassion, she struggles more to act on it. Something forgotten in her dreads to fail again.

She's very much the embodiment of 'once bitten and twice shy' these days, and she's learning how to overcome AND accept it, ESPECIALLY now that she knows who she WAS before. Brave and bold and unstoppable J'nhala Eiha, now the tentative and uncertain L'aiha Kh. Slowly, she's learning there's good in the change—she's more careful, more considerate, and most of all she UNDERSTANDS why someone else would falter for fear alone. But it's not the way of a gifted student or venerated hero. It's not what she was. And she's learning that that's okay.

#THANKIE AGAIN i have one (1) very confused catgirl #l'aiha #wol

[theangrypokemaniac]

@nyarthsis

If Team Rocket 'always had a heart for unpopular Pokémon', that's an admission their Alola catches aren't particular loveable creatures, so I'm not thinking anything too controversial.

You're saying they take pity on the animals no one wants, as in it's normal for me not to find them adorable.

Some Pokémon, such as Lucario, become fan favourites without the advertisement of a regular role the anime. With Wobbuffet, Bewear, Stufful, Mareanie and Mimikyu, do people like them for themselves, or because of their association with Team Rocket?

I think its the latter. I can't imagine there would be such interest in them were they to be owned by a Twerp or appear as a one-off. Really then, it's not what or who they are, it's to whom they belong that matters.

Alola has really devalued catching. Rather than be true to the source material, so battering a Pokémon into submission, as Ash did with Bulbasaur, Primeape, Muk, and many others, now you have to ask their permission!

Bewear didn't even get that. She hung around for no reason, and her 'friend' Stufful was belatedly tacked on. I see why those two were left behind, as Team Rocket had no right to take them elsewhere.

In terms of welfare, Mimikyu and Mareanie are better off staying with them, free and safe, rather than locked in the insalubrious depths of H.Q., but then it never bothered the writers sending previous Pokémon into an uncertain future, so what difference does it make now?

It can only be that, like their predecessors, there is no intention to ever bring them back, but unlike the rest, the fans can't even be allowed the vain hope of a return, not with this rather awkward disposal.

It's feasible that Jessie and James could call their base and request old monsters to join them, but it's difficult to imagine they'd fly across the world to Alola, wander through the woods, pick 'em up and go all the way back again. Why make parting so final and irreversible?

It does imply that Game Freak don't like them, so why should I?

I keep noticing this fickle attitude. A new era starts, we're expected to fall instantaneously in love with every element, beg for more and yet more. Then, once the next region arrives, this adoration asked of us is meant to evaporate and immediately transfer to the next batch.

Well why start to like them, if eventually the makers don't care, to the extent you wouldn't even know previous Pokémon had ever been alive?

Have you heard one mention of Seviper, Yanmega, Dustox, Cacnea, Carnivine, and Mime Junior since they left?

Why were they happy to chuck Wobbuffet after Sinnoh, yet fetched for Kalos?

How could Team Rocket live without it for an entire generation but suddenly it's indispensable again? What do you imagine the rest of their Pokémon felt about that?

Have Jessie and James wondered allowed how Arbok, Weezing, Lickitung and Victreebel are doing?

What of the last two generations?

What is this nonsense where every character is so detached from the past?

Supposing I was to force myself to appreciate them: since they've gone, never to return, I'd be dissatisfied with the show, thus no better off than I am now.

My feelings don't run on a switch. I can't find myself besotted one minute then dump the object of affection without a second thought, just because Nintendo want it from me.

Even if I had a more positive opinion of the current interpretation, there's no benefit to becoming involved when it's all so fleeting.

Mareanie is ugly, with three teeth. I think he's a sea anenome, so ought to be more attractive, but it's covered in nipples instead!

It looks like a bonsai tree growing breasts, reminiscent of the hideous content lurking within an Hieronymous Bosch painting.

The idea that all Mimikyu copy Pikachu, the most famous Pokémon, when in their world it's nothing special, is too stupid for me to accept. How could that be coincidence?

It's referencing reality, acknowledging the real world's view of Pikachu as the star, so if it's breaking the fourth wall, it invites disbelief.

Wobbuffet does sod all. It's a complete dead weight and has no attacks. Yet it's the one to survive generation after generation. Where's the logic in that?

I suspect his popularity rests on being there so long he's considered part of the furniture, the sole catch in which you can invest an emotional connection whilst fairly certain he'll remain around.

By now it ought to have developed some semblance of a personality, but it's as faceless as ever. Other Pokémon that have been and gone had a bit more about them, but Wobba's so bland no one can summon the energy to write him out.

If he went, what would you miss? Breaking out of his ball and hissing 'WAAAAAHBUHFEH'? Is that so integral?

I have several objections:

What is it meant to be?

Why does its tail have eyes?

Why is that never mentioned?

Is it a sort of quadruped, or has it only one foot with four toes, arranged like the bottom of a medical walking stick?

A lot of my reactions to Pokémon are influenced by encountering them in the games. With Wobbuffet, I remember first coming across it in the cave near Blackthorn City, and just as you're winning the fight, it pulls out Destiny Bond and suddenly you're both down.

When you finally get one, it's tricky to train. You have no choice but to guess whether the opposition will launch a physical or special move, and mostly you get it wrong. He never learns anything else and doesn't evolve, so it's that forever.

Persevering with Magikarp is worthwhile, but what's to be gained from taking any time out to fight with Wobbuffet?

The anime eliminates this problem. You're aware of the nature of the approaching onslaught because you can see it coming, and the opponent said it aloud.

In this context Wobbuffet should be the most powerful Pokémon in the universe. Come on, it can deflect every attack!

Is it? No. It has a successful defence about once a generation, and still loses the battle. I can't say if it's worse to be utterly pointless, or to not fulfil one's potential.

I resent it muscling in on the motto, as if it's considers itself of equal rank to Meowth. No it's not!

When I was young, there was a tendency for magazines to refer to Team Rocket as a duo. Meowth was judged to be in the same position as Pikachu: a main character yes, and valuable enough to be accorded the privilege of liberty, but still very much owned by people.

You would see references to Jessie and James as his Trainers, though how they assumed this worked went unexplained. Even if shared, one had to have to caught him, thus be his proper owner.

Later on this developed into them being three equal members, and the term 'TRio' emerged, but now, although perhaps not officially recognised, there's an attitude of treating them as a quartet.

It's just wrong! Wobbuffet's not been around since day one. He didn't join Team Rocket voluntarily because he had nowhere else to go. It was a choice made for him by his original Trainer, so out of his hands, or rather his flippers.

If he was an independent Pokémon who just tagged along one day, that would be different, but it belongs to Jessie. Promoting one of hers means James is lesser, and no longer equal.

In each generation Team Rocket catch at least one local Pokémon, but as Wobbuffet's there, it ends up with Jessie having more on her side than James, and I dislike the imbalance. Plus the one he does get is violent.

It can't be solved by giving him another new one, as then he's captured two in the region, and she has only one, so again it's skewed.

Whilst Wobbuffet does count in numbers, he's not on the level of the rest, who fight regularly. He's both there and not simultaneously.

I'm still irked the way Lickitung was ejected to make room.

It was the best Pokémon they ever had! It took out Pikachu, Vulpix and Bulbasaur with one move! It would've won those Princess Dolls for Jessie if the writers hadn't changed the rules so that Lick only affects those of sound mind!

It was as if they realised their mistake too late, and so Lickitung was featured less and less to avoid it dominating a fight, then hurriedly traded away for something reliably feeble.

The following analogy you may not understand, but I think it fits rather aptly:

There's a game called Final Fantasy VIII. One of the side quests involves you racing through a castle under a time limit. If successful, you are rewarded with Odin as a Guardian Force, which is a deity that will provide a defence.

Unlike others, he is out of your control, but every so often, as you enter battle, he turns up and annihilates your opponents. It's very welcome.

Unfortunately this game was programmed by bunyips, who clearly didn't want the last section of the game to be accidently easier for you. Oh no. If you're progressing, it ain't gonna be through luck, or turning the console on and off until he arises.

Therefore, towards the close, you come up against ex-friend Seifer. Odin is fixed to rush to your aid, but when he does, bloody Seifer slices him in half, horse and all!

He killed Odin, the ancient King of the North! The Lord of Valhallah! The Father of the Vikings!

It's not normal fighting death, it's irreversible. He's gone for good.

After this Gilgamesh introduces himself as a replacement. He too will randomly appear and set about the enemy.

The problem is that whilst Odin destroyed monsters unfailingly, with Gilgamesh it's a rarity.

He uses four swords, and which you get is also a lottery.

One is the same as Odin's, two deal average damage, but not death, and the worst one depletes 1 HP, so it might as well not have bothered.

Not only does it arrive but a fraction of the time, but it's in a fraction of those times that it's of any assistance, which is something of a comedown.

Lickitung is Odin: didn't see it often, but it tore the place apart!

Wobbuffet is Gilgamesh: once in a blue moon it provides rescue, but it's on a lot lower percentage than it's predecessor.

It's difficult not to be disappointed.

#team rocket #wobbuffet #mareanie #mimikyu #bewear #stufful